This invention relates to an electronic device for identifying notes of a keyboard instrument. More particularly, the invention relates to an electronic device which will indicate the note or notes of a keyboard instrument represented by a particular musical interval or intervals in a particular key, and permit easy transposition of the notes represented by such musical intervals from one key to another.
It is understood, from musical theory, that, in a given key of the chromatic musical series, each note has a "value" or "musical interval". For example, in the key of C, the note E has a value or musical interval which is a "major third", while the note G is a "fifth" and the note B is a "major seventh". The note D sharp appearing in the octave above that of the root position of C, in the key of C, is an "augmented ninth", and so forth. Chording in a particular key, accomplished by combinations of notes having particular musical intervals, and the sound and nature of various chords which may be achieved by such combinations, are essential elements in the teaching or study of music, as is the location of particular notes or musical intervals in a given key.
Heretofore, aids for the teaching or study of music have been mainly restricted to mechanical or chart devices such as described in Canadian Pat. No. 710,999 of A. J. Weis, issued June 8, 1965, which describes a type of apparatus which fits behind the keys of a keyboard to identify chords in a particular key, and Canadian Pat. No. 773,425 of Gaillard, issued Dec. 12, 1967, which provides a mechanical apparatus for identifying piano keys with particular tonalities.
In Canadian Pat. No. 831,713 of Schmoier, et al., issued Jan. 13, 1970, a visual keyboard teaching device is described which provides a visual indication, directly on a keyboard instrument, of the comparion manual and clavial keys to be associated to a sound chord triad, and accompanying bass note. Such a device however is relatively sophisticated and expensive to manufacture, requiring association with a real or mock keyboard including keys. Because of its expense and complexity, such a device would not have availability generally for students and teachers of music.
In my co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 683,860, an economical lightweight electronic device, similar to a pocket calculator, is described which permits identification of chords and notes and chord positions in a particular key using a series of switches representing keys and notes, and associated circuit network, and a display area where a characteristic visual response is provided for each note in a given key. By showing, through the characteristic visual response, the "value" of a particular note in a given key, the operator can readily transpose that note into another key to see what value it would then have. This device, however, does not assist the teacher or student of music in visualizing on a keyboard instrument the location of the notes having the values in question.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a small lightweight electronic device, to be used in music teaching and the like, which permits identification of the position of notes and chords of particular musical intervals (i.e. values), in a particular key, and which enables transposition of and location of such musical intervals readily from one key to another.